Cystic fibrosis (CF)

Disease Area Coordinators

Contributing Partner Sites

ARCN, BREATH, UGMLC, TLRC

OVERVIEW

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common genetically determined, early onset and still lethal form of chronic obstructive lung disease. CF affects approximately one in 2500 newborns in Caucasian populations. With improvements in symptomatic therapies and standardized CF medical care, the median survival of CF patients in Germany has increased to approximately 40 years of age. However, despite recent breakthroughs in disease-modifying therapies for a small subgroup of patients with specific CF genotypes, there are currently no therapies available that target CF lung disease at its root cause in the majority of patients. The overall aim of the DZL CF research program is to advance the current understanding of the pathogenesis of CF lung disease and to use this knowledge to improve CF diagnostics, develop more sensitive tools for monitoring of disease activity, and develop novel strategies for effective prevention and therapy of CF lung disease.

MAJOR RESEARCH GOALS

Establish a CF infant cohort for studies of early CF lung disease and clinical evaluation of novel preventive/early therapeutic interventions

Elucidate the CF airways microbiome to test new paradigms of polymicrobial infection